Lychan Part 7 (The End)
Ricky stood there horrified. Glancing around the barn, he saw a tractor and a sitting mower rusted from weather and time never used. Then…
Ricky stood there horrified. Glancing around the barn, he saw a tractor and a sitting mower rusted from weather and time never used. Then he saw a bundled-up black tarp up top on the second level. Climbing the stairs as the three guys ran to him yelling, they went after him. He unveiled the black tarp and could smell the terrible rotting flesh. Their faces smashed and slashed, the bloody bits all hanging down from the rafters. The women’s bodies didn’t even resemble anything human. Darkness and despair came upon him. The three men stopped as they got to the second floor. They knew what he found. And this horrified and embarrassed them revealing their dirty crime.
“What is this?” he asked horrified.
“Ricky, we can talk about this-”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” he said quietly and threw the tarp back over the mutilated corpses. He could face it, but the smell was horrible, a stench foul with evil. He climbed back down as they let him go.
Running back, disgusted by the terrible sight, he threw up in the toilet. Hanging over the porcelain throne he hung his head.
They’re monsters. They’re actual monsters.
He couldn’t fathom all of this, the horror was too much. He began to sob as he lay on the cold floor.
The three guys came in as Ivan came to the door of the bathroom concerned. “Ricky, you need to understand something.” But he kept wailing.
“Leave me alone,” he said quietly wiping his face as he rose.
“No, Ricky, listen to me-”
He abruptly approached him and screamed in his face, “You lied to me!”
“I told you the truth! That’s what you’re forgetting. Who laughed while we told the truth? Huh?”
“You bastard,” he said red eyes stained with tears.
“I gave you a better life! That’s all what we’ve been doin’ here.”
“You killed them,” he said terrified.
“It’s what we do, Rick. What the voice told us,” Caelan said.
“It wasn’t a full moon when I got into town. You guys aren’t tellin’ me everything.”
“We learned how to control it,” Ivan said.
“What?”
“We don’t have to wait anymore for the moon. We’ve become the Moon.”
“Ricky,” Caelan said. “We learned a long time ago how to master the beast. We’ve been doin’ it for so long. It’s become mundane.”
“You’re sick, all of you!”
“The whole world is sick, Rick,” Ivan said angrily. “Does it matter that we are? What’s a little bit more?”
“I loved her.”
“Who?” Ivan laughed mocking him. “Maria? She was just like every other girl you see on the street! On any porn site! You loved the idea of her, Rick. But you didn’t love her, you loved her body, who you thought she was. Just one day you knew her. One night, brother.”
“It doesn’t matter you murdered them. Those girls and their families. They have to grieve now.”
“They were already dead! Society killed them, the system murdered them!”
“You’re insane,” Ricky said shaking his head being utterly ruined by Ivan. “Are you listening to yourself?”
“I understand everything perfectly. Do you? Do you live by anything? Do you seek out anything? What do you believe in? Do you have any better ideas? I have searched everywhere and this, this is where I find the most pleasure. Knowing my work is far-reaching.”
“What do you mean?”
“Rick,” Caelan said. “There’s more of us. A whole community all across the world. A community bigger than anything you could dream of.”
“Of monsters killing and eating people.”
“Purging,” Nick said. “That’s the word our sisters use. Purging. And anyway, there’s always more out there,” Nick said referring to Maria. “What does it matter?” he said curtly.
Ricky was miserable with terror. He breathed heavily. Walking into the kitchen, they surrounded him.
“Everything we’ve been working so hard for comes down to this,” Ivan said. “We live by this rule, to do what pleases us. I don’t understand why you don’t see our reasoning. I’ve been saying this all along. I thought I could trust you.”
“You eat people, man! You kill them. That’s not what we’ve been talkin’ about.”
“Everything is arbitrary. We make your own rules. We’ve become like gods, reaching for the stars and grabbing them, holding them in our hands.”
“You’re murderers.”
“A part of us kills them. We didn’t have a choice.”
“Ricky,” Caelan said. “We never thought we would have this kind of life. You think we like this?”
“Why did you bring me in?” Ricky asked. “If you don’t enjoy this, then why invite me?”
“How could you say that, Rick,” Ivan said forcefully. “You of all people should understand we found the commune, we were elected and we answered our calling.”
“See, you’re trying to blame me! I think you found your own calling and demanded it from your friends. You forced them! I think it’s you who love it, Ivan,” Ricky said.
Caelan and Nick looked at each other. And then Ivan looked back at them and smiled wickedly and playfully, “You hear that, boys? He thinks I’m controlling you. Like I’m some mastermind. They’ve chosen their path! What about you? You wanna join us, Rick?”
Ricky had come so far. Everything spiraled out of control and he was cornered. “I’m going,” Ivan pushed him back into the corner of the kitchen. And roughed him up and grabbed him by the throat.
“Where you think you’re going?”
“I have a choice,” he said choking.
“You had a choice a day ago. Now, you’re in our territory. Our scent is on you. Your scent, we’ll never forget. We marked you. You’re in our grasp.” Ricky eyes wide with fury looked back and saw the knife board pulling out a sharp butcher’s knife breaking free from his grasp.
Ivan laughed maniacally. Then they heard the truck pull up.
The sheriff was close behind. The car doors opened as Ricky stared into Ivan’s eyes red with violence and rage.
Suddenly, he shed his skin. His old white crumpled shell of human skin came off and a hideous monstrosity climbed out. A hairy back with wet fangs foaming with sharp raw teeth. Red eyes gleamed in the darkened room, a snout like a wolf’s wearing a hairy mane with huge wolf ears that heard sounds for miles. His body big, bold, and strong grew in size. His chest puffed out. His arms became like a tree trunk’s bark with hair that stung and stretched out. Claws like razor-sharp knives grew and his feet like jagged spears jetted out. And Caelan and Nick did the same, transforming their whole body, all looking like a wolf and man in one. A terrible sound came out of their mouths, not like a wolf, but a shrill howl and growl that pierced his eardrums causing him pain. Holding his ears, he trembled.
“Who do you think is going to save you?” Ivan said wickedly. His voice was deep and angry, fierce and violent. A single growl belched. “No one.”
As the men all got out of their vehicles looking straight at the red house, Ivan screamed, “He’s in there!” He came running out, arms flailing and the other two kids coming around back. Sheriff Dan pulled his gun quickly as they fell to the ground on their knees pleading.
“Please, he’s in there! The monster!” Ivan screamed. Nick and Caelan played along as they pleaded and yelled in horror.
“Nice try, kid.” Dan came near him pointing his gun.
Harold came up behind him with his handgun.
“Ivan Conway. Is that right?” Harold said as he kicked him off of his knees into the dirt.
Ivan looked right up at him and his eyes became a blue fire of rage. “No, it’s — Come on. You?”
He pointed it straight at his face standing over him. “You fucked with the wrong guy,” he said as he pulled him by his hair. “Who killed him? Who killed my brother?” he screamed.
“Harold enough! I told you not like this! No more,” the sheriff yelled.
“Who did it?” Harold demanded.
“Fuck you,” Nick said. He backhanded Nick as he fell to the ground. The three young men cursed at him.
“What’d you do to Tommy?” Ivan asked horrified.
“I did what was comin’ to him.”
“You bastard!” He was powerless, he could do nothing with the gun in his face.
“I could smell ’em a mile away. You thought you could squeeze passed us, huh?”
“He never told me where he was going.”
“But he should’ve. Knowing he was going up against an expert marksman and hunter. And now I got my chance. But no more runnin’. Your time is up, wolves! You think you’d get away with this? You think you’re above this? Above the law?”
“Do you?” Ivan asked with a grin.
“Of course, I am! I pay my taxes, I work my ass off. What more can I do? I’ve given everything, I’ve given my life to find monsters like you and kill ‘em.”
“High and mighty of you,” Ivan said. “You’re nothin’. You don’t understand shit, old man. You’re way outta your element. There’re bigger things at play.”
“Yeah, you think? Killing my brother,” he pointed the gun pressing it to his face. “That was your first mistake. Your second, your brother leading us right to you.”
“Stop!” Sheriff said. He came over but Harold quickly turned it on Dan.
“Don’t you dare take this away from me,” he said trembling. “Everything I ever cared about — stolen, taken from me. You don’t know what that’s like.”
“Enough. Put the gun down,” he said trying to calm him.
“Nothin’ matters,” he fired two shots into the sheriff’s chest killing him. Haul didn’t move but looked on like a puppet. Bobby’s heart grieved and he winced. Myer passively and willingly allowed it to happen. Harold turning to Ivan pointed the gun waving it and mocking him but then he heard a wretched sound.
A terrible screech from a dreadful and vicious beast boomed forth. It hardened their chests. Their psyche was shaken. “Is that your doing, Conway?” he asked Ivan. But he remained quiet. Harold approached the house motioning to Haul and Myers.
“Haul, grab your gun. You go around back. Steve, you and me go front. Grab the sheriff’s.” Myers, stunned and confused by the anger and control of Harold, was forced to obey grabbing the gun from the dead sheriff’s hand.
“Bobby,” Harold said, “You watch these three.” Bobby had his gun pulling it on Ivan shaking wildly.
Harold walked stealthily coming near the porch. Haul went to the trunk and got out his shotgun, pump action. The noise of a monster from the depths of the earth, an ancient roar, and a sinister presence crept inside their souls begging for them to retreat. A growl like a bear, but a young woman’s blood-curdling scream. It frightened them both knowing with each deadening step they came closer to an unknown creature. Stepping carefully, Haul came back around the house and Bobby stood there watching the thugs.
The front door was locked. A growl was heard something scratching at the door.
Haul burst the back door wide and aimed checking his corners, clearing the kitchen and dining room. He checked around and saw the monster. The Lychan on his hind legs clawing at the door, hit it with such force breaking the wooden door down. Splintering it, he grabbed for the two men but they backed away.
Haul fired at the creature but missed again three more times as it writhed all over and slapped around furiously hitting and throwing pieces of wood around. It moved rapidly, restless. Never satisfied, the monster got back up and wildly went for his throat, ripping it out. Haul died immediately but in those final moments, he saw a terror like no other.
A wolf with a knowledge of human endeavors. It understood what it was doing but was tormented by a raging hatred for anything good. Orange eyes beaming in the dark room, nothing could control or tame it, nothing could reason with it for it had a mission of its own.
Wretched and evil was its purpose, forged long ago by an evil force that fell from the sky lurking and hiding in the shadows of man now present and alive. It weaved its way to pervert women’s souls to pit them against men to twist them and use them. Control she claimed and it was a burden she knew not.
And the man-wolf clawed the corpse and ripped it in half throwing it outside the front porch window. The men terrified of the freakish beast got off of the porch as the monster leaped from the door and hit Harold. He went flying, diving off the porch into safety. But Myers who fired two rounds regretted painfully being gutted by the thing’s claws profusely and his heart ripped out of his chest bringing fury and despair to all.
Harold realized the sheriff’s gun had no silver bullets. A great darkness came over him as he shouted with disgust and fury shooting at the beast from the ground. He missed and the man-beast hurdled the railing and lunged at him. It devoured his face. Screaming and cursing, the beast chewed him. His head in between the jagged and ugly teeth, a scarlet juice. Gnawing on its trophy, licking its voluptuous lips, and biting without ceasing, it clawed at its food.
Bobby horrified ran into the truck and started up the engine. Bobby, shouting went flying up the muddy driveway as the wolf came running at full force, pouncing on the truck punching the windshield, and shattering it. The truck was jerked about and spun over several times into the tawny field being overturned. Bobby crawled out, blood on his forehead as the wolf came strutting towards him and ripping apart his back. Blood flew everywhere. Flesh was dug into and thrown violently.
A bloody mess was left.
The three friends got up and Ivan summoned the wolf-man. “Wolf. Come.”
Ricky all wild and mad with a bloodlust came forth and snarled, growling at them. “Be still.” He came near and sniffed Ricky. Sniffing each other all over, they finally embraced. And he whispered in his ear a strange and foreign chant calming him down. The body turned to a pale white back and his face was human again. He was stark naked and fell down unconscious. They carried him inside.
Ivan placed him down on the couch and stood over him for a moment.
“We gotta do something about the bodies,” Caelan said quickly.
“It’s too dangerous. We gotta move now.”
“What’re we gonna do, man?” Nick asked.
“We’ll be OK, we just gotta take him and run.”
“Just like before,” Caelan said. Bleakness surrounded his face.
“Just like every other time. Nothing different, except we got him.”
“Where we goin’?” Nick asked.
“Austria. Rick’s comin’ with us. If he likes it or not.”
“Why?” Caelan asked confused.
“Because our sisters wait for us. They can help him and complete the curse.” Packing their bags, violently, throwing everything into mayhem, they left in the big black van. Tramping on down the dusty road leaving the town behind, the muffler roared in the dreadful day. Nomadic they went, always traveling and never settling for any home.
THE END.